


Four Visits

by Katybug1992



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha Jonathan Toews, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Slow Burn, arranged marriage kind of, omega jaden schwartz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-01 05:24:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21396493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: The decision that it would be better for the Omegas in the League should be bonded came down and a Bond Approval process was put in place, complete with the official Matchmaker, who had to approve each match.OR Jaden grows to like and trust his new Alpha over four visits.
Relationships: Jaden Schwartz & Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz & Robert Thomas, Jaden Schwartz & Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz/Jonathan Toews, Matthew Tkachuk/Robert Thomas
Comments: 11
Kudos: 72





	1. Toews

The decision that it would be better for the Omegas in the League should be bonded came down and a Bond Approval process was put in place, complete with the official Matchmaker, who had to approve each match. To no one’s surprise, the first match approved was Jeff Skinner and Jared Staal, as the Alpha had been slowly courting the youngest Staal for several years.

Slowly more matches were approved, the number of Omegas in the League already small, and soon there were only a handful un-bonded. Rob proudly displayed his mark from Matt, although their new bond didn’t weaken the rules in place in the Tkachuk household- in fact, it seemed to strengthen them. Matt was no longer allowed to be alone in the basement with Rob.

Jaden’s approved Alpha would be arriving that afternoon for the next week, to allow them to get to know each other before training camp and pre-season got going. He had been unimpressed with all his options, so he had left it up to the Matchmaker and his agent. All he knew what that the Alpha played on a different team, a situation that had Agents and GMs involved to make sure that their players didn’t get screwed over. His agent and Armstrong had been involved in them and seemed happy with the outcome. 

“You ready?” Schenner asked as Jaden hopped off the table when their trainer indicated he was good to go.

“I guess.” Jaden shrugged, grabbing his stuff and starting down the hall, “Where’s Rob?”

“Waiting outside.” Schenner responded, “He wanted to see if he could get a first glance at your new Alpha.”

“Meddling kid.”

“Don’t act like he’s not your favorite. He’s been your pup since his first practice.”

“He’s not my pup.”

“Whatever you say.”

“He’s not.”

Jaden pointedly ignored Schenner’s laugh as he pushed the door open and stepped outside, laughing as Rob bounded up to him.

“He’s not here yet.”

“Stop pouting. He’s my Alpha, not yours.” Jaden chided.

“Can you make mac’n’cheese for dinner?”

Jaden laughed, but nodded. Walt and Chantel were out of town and Matt hadn’t yet reached a deal so he was back in town, leading to Rob staying with Jaden until the Tkachuks were back since Walt didn’t necessarily trust his son to be entirely alone with the Omega.

“Not your pup?”

“Shut up, Schenner.”

Jaden slipped his sunglasses on as the Uber driver pulled into the parking lot. Due to the proximity of their new practice facility to the airport, it was decided that his Alpha would be dropped off there and ride with Jaden back to his place.

“I may have you in my room tonight.” Jaden muttered, eyes focused on the approaching car, “We’ll see.”

Rob simply nodded, joining Jaden in ignoring Schenner’s snort and muttering of “Sure, totally not your pup.”

As the car stopped, however, Schenner put all joking aside and placed a calming hand on Jaden’s shoulder as the Omega tensed up.

“I’m right here.” Schenner muttered, “Right here.”

“I’m fine.” Jaden shot back with a half-hearted glare that Schenner ignored.

“You’re not, but we can ignore that.” Rob responded, bumping his arm against his fellow Omega.

Jaden was prevented from responding as the door opened and the Alpha stepped out.

“You?!” Schenner exclaimed, glaring fiercely at the Alpha.

“Me,” the other Alpha smirked after pulling his bag from the trunk. Turning to face Jaden, he said, “Nice to see you, Jaden.”

“Hello, Toews.” Jaden replied, eyes narrowing slightly.

Toews walked over and held his hand out, smirking over at Schenner as Jaden took the offered hand only to be thrown off guard when Toews kissed his knuckles rather than shaking it.

“Shall we?” Toews raised an eyebrow.

“Shotgun!” Rob yelled, running off in the direction of Jaden’s car.

“He’s staying with me until Wednesday.” Jaden supplied in response to the confused look on Toews face. Turning to face Schenner, the two engaged in a silent argument until Schenner backed down.

“Schwartzy!” Rob yelled from the car, “Let’s go! I’m hungry!”

“Listen to your pup, Schwartzy.” Schenner’s teasing grin was back.

“Not my pup.” Jaden shot back, gesturing for Toews to follow him, “And you better keep your mouth shut!”

“Can’t make any promises!” Schenner laughed.

“I’m serious.” Jaden glared, “If Vova finds out before I tell him -”

“Yeah, yeah,” Schenner rolled his eyes, “he’ll be very upset.”

“I’ll call him tonight.”

“Sure you will.”

“I will.”

“I believe you.”

“I’m leaving now.”

“I’m keeping my mouth shut.”

Jaden rolled his eyes but turned away and lead Toews to his car.

The ride to Jaden’s was almost silent. Rob fiddled with the music, helping himself to Jaden’s Spotify and ignoring Jaden’s complaints about him messing with the algorithm of his Spotify, and texted Matt the news of who Jaden’s Alpha was. There would be an official announcement the next day or so but Rob wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself.

Jaden pulled into his driveway and Rob was quick to get out of the car, unlocking the door to the condo and slipping inside.

“He has a key?” Toews gave Jaden a confused look.

“He lives with the Tkachuks because he’s so young,” Jaden replied, locking the car, “And everyone young person needs a safe place that they can escape to if needed.”

“And you’re place is that place?” Toews followed Jaden to the door.

“There’s, what? Thirty? Omegas in the league? Having two Omegas on a team is rare.” Jaden opened the front door, “Sometimes we need to be around other Omegas, around others who understand.”

“Jay!” Rob called from upstairs, “Can Matty come over for dinner?”

“Can Matty keep his mouth shut?” Jaden called back. When Rob didn’t answer right away, Jaden prompted, “Robby?”

“I hope so because I already told him who it was.” Rob replied tentatively.

“Fine.” Jaden sighed, “But don’t tell anyone else. Not until I tell Vova.”

“Okay!” Rob chriped, “I will not tell anyone outside of the Tkachuk family.”

“Robert!”

“It was an accident! I thought I was just texting Matt but then I noticed that it was the family group chat.”

“Tell Matty to be here at 6.”

“Thank you!”

“You’re helping me with dinner!”

“Okay!”

Jaden smiled and shook his head fondly before gesturing for Toews to follow him down the hall. Opening the door at the end of the hall, he flipped on the light, “This will be your room for the week. Your bathroom is through that door, there’s clean towels hung up as well as in the closet across the hall. I’m requesting that you stay on this level until I say otherwise. My room, as well as Rob’s, are upstairs. You don’t need to be in either space.”

“Understood.” Toews responded, recognizing the look of an Omega who would kill to protect their pup.

“I’ll let you get comfortable.” Jaden gave him one more look before he turned on heel and left the room.

“Jay! I can’t find that book!” Rob called from upstairs, the sounds of the young Omega fumbling around clearly heard through the ceiling.

“Did you look under the bed?” Jaden called back up, heading to the kitchen.

“Yes!”

“All the way?”

“.....no…. FOUND IT!”

“Wait… What book?”

“No book. What are you talking about?”

“I don’t want to know…” Jaden muttered to himself, pulling his phone out and stepping outside. When Vova answered, he greeted, “Got a minute?”

“He there?” the Russian responded, also stepping outside of his own house.

“Yeah,” Jaden nodded, “he’s getting settled.”

“And?”

“Toews.”

“THAT Toews?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“Define ‘okay’.”

“Jay.”

“How do you think I am?”

“I don’t know!” Vova shot back, “For the first time since I met you, I have no idea what’s going on in your head. The last time I saw how you really felt about this was when Chief told us about the new rule.”

They both fell silent, looking back on that moment. Jaden had been silent for a moment, before getting up and storming out of the locker room. Vova had asked Chief to give any reading material to him, because the chances of Jaden reading it any time close to that was slim and the chances of that material getting destroyed was high, before following him out into the gym. He immediately went over to brace the punching bag as Jaden was already over there and let Jaden beat the shit out of the bag until the slightly younger man had punched all his anger out and broke down. The next day, Jaden had woken up in “his” room at the Tarasenkos’ and build the wall back up, reinforcing it to make it stronger than it was before.

“I’m sorry.” Jaden muttered, “I was upset enough, I didn’t need it rubbing off on you.”

“You gotta talk to me, Korotkiy,” Vova responded, “I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.”

“It’s hard. I’ve never been in a relationship with a decent Alpha.” Jaden sank down into a chair, “And this one…”

Jonathan Toews had had his eyes set on Jaden since Jaden had entered the League, and it made it a point to flirt and posture whenever they were near each other. He tried many times to use his college teammate connection to get Jaden’s number from Oshie, but was never successful. 

“I know.”

“I just...I wanted to be the one to tell you who it is.”

“Schenner warned me that I wouldn’t like it.”

Jaden huffed out a laugh, “Why am I not surprised he couldn’t keep his mouth shut?”

“He didn’t give me name.”

“It was a good thing you weren’t there when he arrived. He was practically gloating, smirking at Schenner like I was some kind of prize he had won.”

“Maybe I should come over.”

“No. Rob’s here. It’s already gotta be messing with him sharing a space with a strange Alpha. He doesn’t need two posturing Alphas on top of that.”

“He’s worried about his mama?”

“He’s not my pup.”

Vova just laughed in response.

“I should go. Matty is gonna come over for dinner and I have to get started on that. I promised Chanty only one take-out night and Rob and I got pizza last night, which he then ate for breakfast this morning.”

“Call if you need anything.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be checking with Rob.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

Jaden hung up as Vova laughed.

“Rob!” Jaden called out as he slid the door closed again, “We need to start on dinner!”

Rob bounded down the stairs in response before pushing Jaden toward them, “Go get changed and wash your face. I’ll get everything out.”

“Wash my face?” Jaden narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“That’s what Chanty always tells me to do when I’m upset.”

Jaden shook his head but padded up the stairs as Toews emerged from the guest room in a t-shirt and gym shorts.

“So, you’re his new Alpha.” Rob greeted, sizing the Alpha up. 

Before either could say anything else, Jaden phone started buzzing.

“Jay! Your phone’s ringing!” Rob called up the stairs.

“Who is it?” came the reply.

“Borts!”

“Do NOT answer that!”

“Why? Are we mad at him?”

“Schenner doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut and I was stupid enough to make him promise not to tell Vova.” Jaden padded back down the stairs in sweatpants and a Colorado College t-shirt. Breezing on and pre-heating the oven, he said, “Start unwrapping and cutting.”

Rob shrugged and unwrapped the seven cheeses, pulling open the knife drawer and grabbing one.

“Not that one.” Jaden absently put the knife back and pulled out a nearly identical one before starting on cooking the pasta and ignoring his phone, which had started buzzing again.

Glancing briefly at the caller ID, he sighed, “Who didn’t Schenner tell!?”

“Vova?”

Jaden laughed, reaching for the phone to reject the call before Rob stopped him, “If you don’t answer at least one of them, they’ll show up here.”

“Good point.” Jaden replied, grabbing the phone and heading back outside, “Keep an eye on the water, stir it occasionally.”

Rolling his eyes at Rob’s mock salute, he slid the door shut behind him.

“Give him some time.” Rob didn’t look over at Toews as he spoke, “He’s had some bad experiences with Alphas. I don’t know all the details, or any really, he doesn’t talk about it. I think Vova might know. Anyway, let him go at his own pace. Eventually, you’ll gain his trust. Just don’t push him.”

“That’s all you’re gonna say?” Toews raised an eyebrow.

“I know what he’s thinking. I know what I felt when Chief told us, before I knew for sure that Matty wanted to Bond. I had a potential Alpha that I loved and trusted, still do. I had a say in my process because of this. Since Jay didn’t already have an Alpha, it was a free for all process. The only Alphas Jaden trusts completely are on our team, the only Alpha who knows all of Jaden is Vova. He’s the only Alpha Jay has let completely in, who knows every piece of Jaden. Just... keep that in mind.”

The two stood in silence until Jaden came back inside, rolling his eyes.

“That bad?”

Jaden didn’t respond, just walked back over to the stove, “What do you want besides the mac’n’cheese?”

“What do you mean?” Rob replied, giving him a confused look.

Jaden just gave him an unimpressed look. Glancing at the Alpha, he said, “Can you please get the salad stuff out? It’s all in the bottom left drawer”

Toews nodded and did as requested while Jaden drained the pasta and began adding in the cheeses, cream, and butter.

“Can I crush the chips?” Rob asked as Jaden poured the concoction in the 9x9 pan.

Jaden rolled his eyes but handed the ziplock bag filled with Ruffles to Rob, who happily started crushing the chips, then poured them out on top of the pasta.

Popping it in the oven, Jaden quickly prepared the salad and Rob set the table.

Matt rolled in as the food was set out on the table, responding to Jaden’s look with a quick, “Robby said 6:00.”

“Need to talk to Chanty about your manners.” Jaden smirked, grudging allowing Toews to pull his chair out for him.

“You didn’t have to cook.” Toews said as he sat down.

“Yeah, I did.” Jaden replied, “Chantel and Walt don’t want Robby eating all take-out, so they requested we only get it once. We had pizza last night.”

“And this morning.” Rob replied, turning to Matt, he said, “Don’t you dare tell your mother.”

“What do I get out of it?” Matt lowered his voice and gave Rob an obvious once over.

“You get to take Rob out while he’s staying with someone who doesn’t enforce the curfew.” Jaden replied, giving Matt a look.

“Got it.” Matt replied, looking back down at his plate and ignoring the amused look shared by the two Omegas.

“More salad than that.” Jaden instructed, not even looking up, grinning as Rob grumbled but helped himself to more of the salad, “What do you have planned for tonight?”

“Probably play a couple video games.” Rob shrugged, “Nothing big.”

“Okay,” Jaden nodded, “You stay in the living room then. If you go up to your room, the door stays open. You know the rules.”

“But you said -”

“I said ‘no curfew’. I said nothing about the other rules.”

“Is this because you’re scared of Walt and Chanty?” Rob asked, “Because we promise not to tell.”

“No, it has everything to do with you getting knocked up.” Jaden replied, “Your heat’s coming up.”

“How does he know that?” Matt asked, looking at Jaden in almost awe.

“He can sense it.” Rob shrugged, “All Omegas can. We kind of need to be able to since one Omega’s heat can trigger another Omega’s heat.”

“I’m sure they covered that in Health class.”

“They didn’t really go that in depth.” Matt gave Jaden a skeptical look, trying to figure out if the two Omegas were messing with him.

“Do we have to worry about you?” Toews asked, giving Jaden an assessing look.

Rob burst out laughing in response to that, earning exasperated look from Jaden. Getting control of himself, he said, “Schwartzy takes way more than the suggested dose of Suppressants. He hasn’t had an actual heat in way too long.”

“And we’re not talking about this.” Jaden replied in a pointed tone.

“I’m just saying,” Rob responded, “the doctors all say that it’s healthy to have heats at least every three to four months. Your heat’s gonna be bad when you finally have to let it hit.”

“I can handle it.”

“Good thing you’re gonna have an Alpha. Otherwise it was going to be long and painful.”

“Rob.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it for now.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe I should mention it to Vova…”

“Maybe I should mention that Matt sneaks down to the basement every night to Walt.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“Fine. Truse?”

“Truse.”

“So,” Matt looked over at Toews, “you were one of the first petitions submitted?”

“Yeah,” Toews nodded. Turning to Jaden he said, “This was really good.”

“Thank you.” Jaden gave him a small smile in response before Rob pulled his attention away with a question about a movie Jaden and Schenner had been talking about.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen it?” Jaden demanded.

“Matty hasn’t either!” was Rob’s reply.

“Don’t drag me into this.” Matt stood up and started to take dishes back to the kitchen.

“You don’t -”

“Let me help, Schwartzy.” Matt rolled his eyes, used to Jaden’s protests, “If it makes you feel better, I can make Rob help.”

“Try not to get more water on the floor than in the sink this time.”

“Got it!” Rob chirped.

Jaden gestured for Toews to follow him, leading the way out to the patio and firmly shutting the door behind them, giving the younger pair a warning look. Toews waited for Jaden to sit down before sitting in the other chair next to him.

“My Agent mentioned that the NHL wants to have some cameras follow us around in a couple days, after they make the announcement,” Toews said after a minute of silence.

“Why me?” Jaden replied, looking over at Toews.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you submit a petition for me?”

“You intrigue me.”

“That’s all?”

“I’ve never met an Omega like you. You act bigger than you are, you’re stronger than you look. I’ve been interested in you since you scored in your first game in the NHL. And I’ve wanted you since your first game against Chicago, when you boarded me after I looked at you.”

“You didn’t look at me. You gave me an obvious once over and winked.”

“Anyway, when I found out that you were one of the few who either didn’t have an Alpha or didn’t have any prospects, I couldn’t pass up the chance.”

“So you submitted a petition without knowing anything about me?”

“I think all your other petitioners were in the same boat.”

Jaden nodded, acquiescing to the point. The NHL had been paying the most attention to his petition process due to the number of big names submitting for him. It had been the talk of the playoffs, every team they played against had at least one player petitioning for him. During Press Day before the final round it was announced that Marchand had submitted and that became one of the few questions asked to Jaden, which pissed off not just Jaden but the team as well. It didn’t help that Marchand was obnoxious and cocky about it.

“For the photographer, will the Blues Social Media manager work? If you would prefer, you can see if the ‘Hawks guy can come down.” Jaden pushed on.

“I think the NHL is sending someone, since the pictures will go with a full story. Our quotes will come from our Agents, Coaches, and GMs so that we don’t have to officially comment.”

“Studio?”

“No, out in public, following us throughout the day.”

Jaden nodded.

“So, what made you pick me?” Toews asked.

“Army and my Agent came to me with the top three offers, you were the one closest.”

“So proximity was the only factor in your decision?”

“And you had put in that, under no circumstances, would you try to control me.” Jaden shrugged like it was nothing, “Anyway, I’ll have to have a heat eventually. Better to have you be an hour plane ride than three hours.”

“No one else made that promise?”

“Not to the extent that you did.”

“Speaking of heat…”

“You don’t need to worry about that anytime soon.”

“The suppressants?”

“I take a high dose. I have since I decided I was ready to leave college. I was with an Alpha at the time and…. I needed to know that an Alpha would never be able to control me again.”

“You wanna talk about that?”

“Not right now.” Jaden responded, “I will soon...probably...but I just...It took almost a whole year for me to tell Vova.”

“Your teammate threatened to tell him about the Suppressant issues. Why?”

“Vova knows about that. He just doesn’t know all the gritty details, like the fact that I haven’t had a heat in years.”

“And what would he do about that?”

“Hide my suppressants and call a Russian.”

“Why a Russian?”

“So that if I get knocked up, he has an excuse to move me into his house.”

“Have you two ever….?”

“No!” Jaden blurted, eyes wide, “Never.”

“But he wants to…?”

“No. I was his first pack mate in St. Louis. He’s been there for me through a lot, helped me deal with a lot of my issues. He was the first Alpha I ever let in and he’s protective.”

“So winning him over is going to be just as hard as winning you over?”

“Probably.”

Toews laughed at the grin on Jaden’s face. 

“Jay!” Rob slid the patio door open, “What are the rules about Matty taking me out?”

“Be back at a reasonable time.”

“Just that?”

“And don’t cross either river.”

“Got it!”

“And if you guys go out drinking, take an Uber now and call me to pick you up.”

“Okay. I think we’re just gonna get Ice’s.” 

“Have fun.”

Rob flashed him a smile and ducked back inside.

“Ice’s?”

“Ice’s Plain and Fancy. It’s a liquid nitrogen ice cream place.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Maybe I’ll take you there.”

Toews woke with a start as the first door opened and closed. He slowly got out of bed and moved toward the bedroom door.

“Schwartzy!” a voice yelled, “You made me get up at this god forsaken hour, I expect breakfast!”

“It’s eight o’clock!” Jaden voice came from the bedroom upstairs, rough from sleep, “And I didn’t make you do anything.”

“You said we were going for a run this morning!” 

“No, I asked if you wanted to and you whined and complained.”

“But I’m here.”

“Schenner, shut up. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“I’m getting cereal!”

Jaden didn’t respond, but Toews could hear him getting up.

“Where’s your Fruit Loops?” 

“I don’t have Fruit Loops.”

“Why not?”

“Beggars can’t be chooser, Schenner.”

“Ugh!”

“I think Robby hid some Lucky Charms behind the Coco Puffs. . . Shut up!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your face said enough.”

“How’s it going?”

“Matty took Rob out last night and didn’t bring him home until -”

“Not with your pup, with him.”

“He’s in the room down the hall, Schenner.”  
“Not letting him in your bed yet?”

Schenn’s tone was teasing as Rob’s voice joined them, “Not even letting him on the second floor.”

“Go back to bed.”

“I thought we were going on a run.”

“See?!”

Jaden didn’t respond but Toews could hear him walking down the hall, a soft knock following shortly after.

“Come in.” Toews called, smiling when Jaden opened the door.

“I’m going to send Robby out with Schenner for a bit. I was thinking we could go somewhere for breakfast.”

“You’re not going with them?” Toews tried not to sound surprised.

“Schenner’s the one who needs to work on his speed.” Jaden grinned, “Besides, if I go, then I can’t hear the epic story of how running is the greatest of all evils and how he got yelled at by an old lady and almost ran into several people and got this close to getting run over.”

“You don’t want to miss that.”

“I’m sure Robby with let me know all the embellishments.”

“So, breakfast?”

“Meet you in the living room in twenty.”

With that, Jaden closed the door and Toews could hear him talking Schenn and Rob before he heard them leave and Jaden walk upstairs.

Toews got up, showered, and threw on jeans and a t-shirt before heading out to wait for Jaden, taking the time to really look around. He glanced around at the pictures hung on the walls, huffing at a team photo with the Cup. It was obviously not a professional photo, not really, snapped during a moment when they were getting ready to take a professional photo. Jaden had his head thrown back in laughter. He looked amazing. More open than in any photo he had ever seen.

“Ready?” Jaden asked, walking down the stairs.

Toews nodded, following Jaden out to his car.

The week passed quickly after that, surprisingly so. The photographer followed them around the Zoo on their third day together, the article releasing the next day, titled “SCHWARTZ FINDS ALPHA IN CENTRAL DIVISION RIVAL”. It was well written, the quotes provided pretty general, “they’re still getting to know each other”, and “on paper, they’re a great match”, “their’s is the most generous of the contracts that I’ve seen”. Looking at the photos, they did make a good looking couple and if Toews put one of those photos in his wallet, Jaden didn’t need to know that.

Jaden dropped him off at the airport at the end of their week and allowed Toews to scent him before he entered the airport, shrugging nonchalantly as he tucked one of his beanies into Toews bag, muttering something about how it was only fair since he knew Toews left a shirt at his place.

Toews smiled, shaking his head in amusement over the fact that Jaden still refused to call him by his first name.

It was only when he boarded the plane did he take another look at the photo he had tucked away. It was simple, nothing really special about it. They had been watching the Sea Lions, in the tunnel, the lighting tinged blue from the sun coming in through the water. Jaden was looking up at him with a genuine smile, nothing forced about it, and leaning closer to him. He was bent down, whispering a comment about the photographer who had been following them around. The guy had spent the entire day trying to stage candid moments and had been getting on their nerves. But this photo, this was a moment that was just them, thinking they had lost the photographer for a minute.

He smiled to himself, tucking it back into his wallet and closing his eyes as the plane backed out and started down the runway. He had made some headway on this trip and Jaden didn’t despise him. It was a good start.

Remembering to put his phone on airplane mode, he pulled it out only to see a text from Jaden. It was a simple “Have a safe flight. Let me know when you land.” but it had a smile breaking out across his face that hurt. He put his phone on airplane and thought to himself that he was definitely gone for this Omega. For his Omega.


	2. Jonathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaden spends the evening with Toews after the afternoon game in Chicago.

It was game day in Chicago and already Jaden had had enough.

“The next person who asks me if I think I should be playing today, I’m gonna punch,” he muttered, throwing his bag down in his stall.

“Ignore it.” Petro replied walking past, “Ignore it and play harder.”

“It’s not that easy when it’s literally every reporter’s question.” Jaden muttered.

“The next person who asks me if Schwartzy should be playing today, I’m gonna punch.” Vova exclaimed as he stormed into the locker room a short while later.

It had been the pattern of the week. Reporters asking if Jaden should play against his Alpha. Vova had been responding with “Why shouldn’t he?” but each answer slowly got more and more agitated.

“Save it for the game.” Petro instructed.

It had gotten under everyone’s skin, the assumption that Jaden suddenly wasn’t the same player he had always been, and they kept a tally of how many times the question had been asked. That was how many times Toews was getting hit during the game. Jaden had rolled his eyes at the joking suggestion but quickly gave into the reality after he was asked the question by a particularly annoying Blackhawks reporter and had to be grabbed by Vova and Chief had to cut in when the reporter pushed.

“Reporters on the way.” Chief warned, entering the room, clapping Jaden on the shoulder as he walked past.

Jaden closed his eyes and took a deep breath, if he was calm, that would go a long way to get Vladimir there, too. The Russian was just as agitated as Jaden was and it didn’t help that they usually fed off of each other’s emotions.

Sure enough, the gaggle of reporters went over to Jaden first, Vitale being the first one to get out his question, “What are you most looking forward to in this afternoon’s game?”

Jaden grinned slightly, subtly thanking the Blues broadcaster, before responding, “Just getting out there, playing our game. It’s gonna be physical game, games against Chicago always are, and they way our team has been playing, I feel really confident.”

“Is the fact that you’re playing your Alpha going to effect your personal game at all?” one the other reporters asked.

He suppressed the eye roll, trying not to laugh as O’Ry grabbed Vova just in case, and replied, “Not at all. In fact, it’s probably going to make me better. Prove to everyone that just because he’s my Alpha, it’s not going to change anything.”

He was asked a couple more questions before the reporter moved on to other players and the coaches and then exited the locker room.

“Good job.” Coach clapped him on the shoulder.

Jaden grinned in response before his attention was taken by Schenner and Vova.

Toews grinned at the reporters surrounding him, wrapping up his pre-game interview.

“What do you think about the Blues’ decision to not scratch Schwartz today?” one of them asked.

“I agree with it.” Toews laughed, “He’s one of their best players. I think it would have been a dumb choice if they did scratch him.”

He said his thank yous and headed into the locker room, rolling his eyes once his back was turned. Jaden was still the same player he had always been. Nothing had changed there and Jaden would never speak to him again if he tried anything during the game.

Toews watched in almost awe as Jaden scored his third goal of the night. He had gotten a breakaway and Toews got boarded and knocked down by Bortozzo who seemed to have gone out of his way to knock him down. The puck went in as he pulled himself up, frustrated, but still huffing out a laugh as Jaden ended up on the ice as his shot went in the net.

The game ended shortly after that, the Blues winning 5-2, and they headed into the locker room, Toews shooting a look over his shoulder at the Blues players surrounding his Omega, who was smiling widely and yelling something across the sounds of his teammates at Tarasenko, who was laughing at whatever was said.

He didn’t have that long in the locker room before the press came in for their post-game interviews.

He answered the questions almost on auto-pilot until the last one, asked by one of the Blues reporters, “Jaden Schwartz had one of his best games of the season today. What did you think of his game?”

“I think he proved the point he set out to prove.”

He thanked the reporters and they moved on. He began his post game routine, wincing as he moved.

“The number of hits in a game went up a lot tonight and it seemed like there was one main target,” one of the reporters stated.

“Well Number 19 is always circled on the board,” Chief chuckled, “That’s just what happens when you’re a good player.”

“Schwartz had quite the game tonight,” another jumped in, “was there anything extra said to him going into this game?”

“He told me before the game that he had something to prove and I think he did.” Chief replied, “Let’s hope no one doubts his ability to play his game just because of who he is.”

“What was going through your mind today?” one of the reporters asked.

“I wanted to prove everyone who thought I should be scratched wrong.” Jaden replied, “I played my game, got in a few good hits, got the puck in the net.”

“It seemed like your team might have been targeting your Alpha based on the number of hits just on him.”

“You’d have to ask them about that.” Jaden smirked, “But when you’re one of the best players on the team, your number gets circled.”

Showered and dressed, Jaden shouldered his small duffle. He and Toews had decided to take advantage of it being an afternoon game and both having the next day off, it being a travel day for the Blues. Toews told him he would pick him up from outside the visitors locker room. He leaned against the wall, resting his head on it, cracking an eye open as Vladi joined him.

“What’s up?” he asked when the Russian didn’t say anything.

“Just waiting for the guys to be ready.” Vladi shrugged, “We’re supposed to get pizza.”

“Fun.” Jaden replied, giving his linemate a look that showed he didn’t buy a word of it.

“Yeah, well, it’ll be two hours of arguing before we actually get it.” Vladimir shrugged as Jaden laughed, “And I wanted to talk to that Alpha of yours before we send you off with him.”

“Tank…”

“Don’t give me that look.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“You’re my teammate, my best friend, you’re important to me.” Vladimir fixed Jaden with a look, “And I need to know that you’re going to be okay and I need him to know that if anything happens to you while you are with him, then there will be consequences.”

“I’m sure he knows that.” Jaden rolled his eyes. Before Vladi could respond, he said, “Look, I need you to do me a favor. Rob and Matty have a phone date tonight. I’m going to be trying not to be on my phone while I’m with Toews, so can you make sure to check on him afterward? Most of the time he’s fine, but sometimes he’s not. If he’s really upset, he’ll call me. If he does that, don’t worry about checking in. I’m going to stop by his room when I get back to the hotel, but until then…”

“You’re not spending the night?” Vladi raised an eyebrow.

“Why would I be?” Jaden scoffed, sighing and rolling his eyes at the look he got in return.

“....Seriously?” Vova deadpanned, “I know you know what I mean.”

“We don’t really know each other well enough for...you know.”

“Jay.”

“It’s not like we haven’t talked since he was in the Lou, but he knows not to get his hopes up.”

“He okay with it?”

“He respects it. That’s what matters.”

“Are you telling him about Mark tonight?”

“I was planning to.”

“Good. He needs to know.”

“I know he does.”

“Jay,” Rob poked his head into the hall, “can I talk to you really quick?”

Jaden gave Vladimir an unimpressed look, knowing that this was planned.

“You don’t wanna let your pup down do you?” Vladi smirked in return, “I’ll watch your bag.”

“Not my pup.” Jaden mumbled but followed Rob back into the locker room as Toews rounded the corner.

Vladimir waited until the door was fully closed before greeting the older Alpha, “Toews.”

“Tarasenko.” Toews nodded in greeting, “Just picking up Jaden.”

“I know.” Vladimir nodded, “But he’s busy talking to Rob and you and I are overdue for a chat.”

“He didn’t mention that.”

“We planned it so that he couldn’t.”

The two Alphas stared each other down, neither willing to back down.

“Look,” Toews finally spoke, “I’m just here to pick up Jaden, then I will be on my way.”

“That’s why we need to chat about.” Vladimir pushed himself away from the wall to stand in front of Toews, who pulled on the couple of inches he had on the younger Alpha to try to intimidate him back, “If anything happens to him tonight while he is in your care, there is nowhere you can hide.”

“We’re just going back to my place.” Toews replied.

“That’s what I’m concerned about.”

“He’s made it very clear that nothing will be happening, along with graphic detail of what will happen if I try.”

Vladi couldn’t help the huff of laughter that came out, having heard those threats uttered to other unfortunate Alphas who tried to push their luck.

“And I’m guessing you’ll help him with that?”

“He wouldn’t need my help.”

“What do you need to hear me say?”

“I don’t need to hear you say anything.” Vladimir rolled his eyes like Toews should have known that, “I need you to know that he’s not just my teammate. He’s my best friend, he’s the Omega in my kids’ lives, and he is part of my Pack. You’re not the first Alpha in his life, but you’re the one he’s stuck with so you need to know that I am your first call if anything happens to him.”

“I may not officially be his Alpha yet, Tarasenko, but you’re never going to be his Alpha.” Toews smirked down at the younger man, trying to get a rise out of him.

“I don’t have to be his Alpha.” Vladimir glared, “He trusts me more than he trusts anyone. There’s nothing I don’t know about him. And there’s nothing he doesn’t tell me.”

Before Toews could respond, Jaden came back out of the locker room, laughing at whatever Robby was chattering about. Both Omega’s stopped short at the tense atmosphere, Jaden glaring at the two Alphas as Rob moved a little closer to him.

“What’s up?” Jaden asked, stepped subtly in front of the younger Omega.

“Nothing,” Vladimir replied, stepping back and walking over to Jaden, “Call me when you get there and when you leave-”

“And stop by your room when I get back?” Jaden grinned up at Vladi, “Don’t trust Schenner to let you know when I’m back?”

“And let me know if you decide not to come back.”

“That won’t happen.”

Vladimir just laughed and handed the duffle over, “Have fun, krokhotnyy.”

“We’ve talked about you calling me that.”

Vladimir just laughed, scenting Jaden quickly so that the younger man couldn’t react, Rob ducking in right after.

“If you need anything, call me.” Jaden focused his attention on Rob.

“He’ll be fine, mat'.” Vladi smirked.

Jaden glared at his teammate as he took Toews offered hand, allowing himself to be pulled down the hall.

“Use protection, mama!” Rob yelled after the pair, cackling when Jaden just responded by flipping him off.

“He’ll be okay,” Rob smiled over at Vladi.

“I know he will.” Vladi grinned.

“He’s this bad with me, I almost feel bad for his future pups.”

“If you didn’t act like his pup, he wouldn’t be this bad. Why is he being this bad tonight?”

“It’s a mix of being nervous about going back to Toews’ place and the fact that sometimes my phone dates with Matty make me feel worse and he’s just always been the one I go to with it.”

“Come on,” Vladimir directed him toward the locker room door, “we gotta go listen to argument about dinner.”

“I thought we were getting pizza?”

“You’re not new here,” Voca was definitely giving him a judgmental look, “you know it’s not that simple.”

Rob laughed and entered the room, the sounds of the “conversation” hitting him immediately.

Jaden looked around the apartment as they entered, spacious and elegant in an understated way, located surprising close to the hotel the team was staying at.

“There’s the bathroom if you want to change,” Toews pointed down the hall, “I’ll change in my room and then start dinner.”

“You didn’t have to cook,” Jaden replied.

“You cooked for me, almost every night I was at yours.” Toews shrugged, “It’s the least I can do to cook meat for tacos for you.”

Jaden laughed, genuinely laughed, at that and headed in the direction of the bathroom, aware that Toews gaze was following him.

He reemerged in a pair of Adidas joggers and a loose fitting Blues shirt, the fabric of which was washing machine soft and the design faded. He carefully folded his suit and packed it up.

“Smells good.” he smiled over at the Alpha as he padded into the kitchen.

“Beer?” Toews asked, opening the refrigerator when Jaden nodded and set it down in front of one of the bar stools.

“Thank you.” Jaden took a sip, “So, are tacos your specialty?”

“According to Kaner, they are one of the few things I can make well.” Toews grinned over at the Omega.

“Do you need help with anything?”

“Nope. I have the tortillas, the cheese, sour cream, and store bought guacamole and salsa. Did you want anything else? I thought of texting you but -”

“Sometimes simple is just what you need.”

“Speaking of simple,” Toews grinned over at him, “you had a great game tonight. Made scoring look quite easy.”

“You got a goal, yourself.” Jaden looked down at the counter.

“I also got banged up more than usual.”

“You can blame that on reporters and commentators.”

“How so?”

“We started keeping a tally of every time the fact of me playing today was called into question and that number became the number of hits you were supposed to receive.”

“I defended you when I was asked that question.”

“It wasn’t my idea. I wanted to keep a tally and have that many shots on goal in the game.”

Toews laughed at that, turning the burner off and grabbing plates and the items from the fridge, Jaden helping him carry things to the table.

“So, did you always plan to play professional?” Jaden asked him as they settled in.

“Yeah,” Toews replied like it was obvious, “Didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think I was good enough.” Jade shrugged.

“Not good enough?” Toews scoffed, “You made Team Canada in the World Juniors three times, you were named Captain.”

“I’m also an Omega.” Jaden replied, “And I had an Alpha I was seeing at the time who…”

“You can talk to me about it.”

“I want to. But Vova is the only one who knows the whole of it.”

“You can’t just have one person you talk to.”

“His name was Mark. I was dumb and I thought he was going to be it for me. When I told him that I was draftee, he lost it. He said it was okay for an Omega to play in college, even play internationally, but I shouldn’t be able to play in the League. He said I wasn’t good enough to actually make it and would most likely spend my career playing for a minor league team anyway.”

“Jay-”

“The day I was supposed to leave to go to the Draft, he tried to induce my heat. He had switched out my suppressants without me knowing and I hadn’t been feeling well that whole week. I went to the trainer instead of going to his place after class. That’s how I found out. The training staff at Colorado College had an extra bottle of my suppressants, all the athletic training and medical staff had extra bottles of every Omega’s suppressants just in case. He had me take two and sent one of my teammates to my dorm room to get my bag so that Mark didn’t have a chance to try anything. They’re the only reason I made it there.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“Mark is the reason I picked you. You promised not to do anything to control me. Mark kept such tight control over me that I didn’t realize it until I almost fucked up my future, my dream. Mark is the reason Vova slightly protective.”

“Slightly!?”

Jaden huffed out a laugh, “When I told him about Mark, I thought he was about to get ready to hunt him down. It was on our flight to Denver, our first year playing together. My old teammates were going to be there, but so was Mark. I played with his brother so he was going to tag along. That’s the only reason I had a heads up. He asked what was wrong and I just blurted out everything. I honestly don’t know how much of it he understood, his English wasn’t great then, but he understood that I was terrified of seeing Mark again. He grabbed my shoulders, made me look him in the eyes, and said, ‘You here because you good’.”

Toews laughed at Jaden’s Russian accent, admitting to himself that it was pretty good, before saying, “He was right. And look at you now, Mr. Hat Trick.”

Jaden threw his head back laughing, “Whatever the reason, that worked. I was fine after that. Vladi had my back, still does.” 

“He cares a lot about you.”

“I’m the only Omega in his Pack. Yana is a Beta, Mark will probably present as a Beta, Aleksandr is definitely a little Alpha. We don’t know about Artem yet, but most of the time one of the parents needs to have at least one Omega grandparent for that and neither Vladi or Yana have any Omegas in their family tree close enough to effect him.”

“You really are part of his Pack.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I know he told you.”

“It’s one thing hearing him say it when he was trying to rub it in that he’s always going to be who you go to, but it’s another to hear you talk about him, actually hearing you say that you’re part of his Pack.”

“You don’t have to worry about him.”

“No warm fuzzy feelings for him?”

“None.”

“So I don’t have to worry about him.”

“Unless you hurt me in someway. Then you should probably be afraid.”

“I think I have more to fear from you.”

Jaden grinned down at his plate before looking back up, “I figured it was time for me to tell you about Mark. It’s something you should know.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

Jaden just sent him a small smile in return.

When they finished eating, Toews steered Jaden away from the kitchen, “We only have a couple more hours before you go back to the hotel, I’ll wash the dishes after you leave. Dishwashers are a fantastic thing.”

Jaden looked ready to argue but let himself be guided over to the couch, settling in as Toews pulled up Netflix. As an episode of Friends played in the background, they just talked. They talked about their families, their friends, avoided talking about work. Toews brought up his past relationships, explaining that things never felt right with any of them and how Kane blamed it on his pining for Jaden. Jaden responded to that by rolling his eyes and turning away to try to hide the blush blooming across his face.

“Don’t.” Toews voice was soft, “You always look away when I say something you like.”

Jaden forced himself to meet Toews gaze, surprised at how soft it was, “I’m just not used to it. Not when it’s sincere.” 

“I guess I’ll just have to fix that.”

“Good luck with that.” Jaden looked down, “You have your work cut out for you.”

“It’ll be worth it.” 

“You can’t just say things like that.” Jaden laughed, shaking his head and looking away.

“Why not?” Toews smirked.

“Because I know you mean it.”

Toews laughed, stopped from further comment by Jaden’s phone chirping. 

Jaden rolled his eyes as he pulled it out and read the text from Schenner, “It’s almost midnight, Cinderella”.

Sighing, he stretched and stood up, “I should go. It’s getting late and I think we’re pulling out around nine tomorrow morning.”

“You could stay.”

“I really can’t.” Jaden shook his head, “Although part of me really wants to.”

“But not all of you.”

“I’m not there yet.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”

Jaden bit his lip to keep a smile from appearing before standing up and walking over to his bag, slipping out the pair of sneakers and putting them on.

“Let me get you an Uber.” Toews insisted, standing up as well.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do.”

Jaden opened his mouth to argue but decided it was losing battle and shouldered his bag. 

“Wait here.” Toews instructed, running off to his bedroom and emerging with a well-worn hoodie, “Here. It’s kinda chilly out there.”

“North Dakota?” Jaden raised an eyebrow.

“You want a ‘Hawks one?” Toews raised an eyebrow, tone teasing as Jaden sighed but pulled the hoodie over his head.

He let Toews walk him down to meet the Uber but paused as he went to approach the car.

Turning around, Jaden pulled Toews down and lightly brushed his lips across the Alpha’s.

“I’ll text you when I get back to the hotel, Jonathan.” Jaden grinned before turning on heel and getting into the Uber.

Jonathan watched the Uber drive down the street, a dorky grin on face. The grin didn’t leave as he headed back inside, letting out a delighted laugh at the text waiting on his phone, “I’ll text you when I land, Jonathan.”

“You can call me , Johnny.” he replied.

An instant reply said, “Don’t push your luck.”

He let out another laugh and shook his head. Jaden was the most stubborn Omega he had ever met, but damn if it didn’t make him want the Omega more. He chased every smile, every laugh, every sign of affection.

Not caring how dorky it sounded, he sent a text to Kaner, “He called me Jonathan.”

Jaden texted Vova as he got out of the Uber and headed up to Rob’s room.

“How was your night?” Sammi asked with a teasing grin as he opened the door.

“Rob in there?” Jaden rolled his eyes.

“He’s been quiet all night.” Sammi replied, “I’ll get him for you.”

“Thanks.” Jaden nodded.

Robby opened the door pretty quickly after and the two headed to the rooftop patio, taking the couch in the corner furthest from the door, nodding a greeting to a couple of their teammates who were at the bar.

“How was your date?” Jaden asked, leaning back.

“It was fine.” Rob replied, nodding, “Just...sometimes...I just miss a lot.”

“I know you do.” Jaden replied, “But you’re gonna see him soon.”

The two sat in silence for a little bit, Rob letting Jaden’s presence calm him down and center him again.

“Did you know that Walt and Chanty have him send me hoodies and hats? Just so I always have something that smells like him?”

“You didn’t know that?”

“I just thought they were things that didn’t get into the washing machine for some reason. I see Toews gave you something of his.”

“I may have left something of mine for Jonathan to find.”

“It’s Jonathan now? What happened?!”

“We just talked.”

“Your face is saying something else.”

“I may have kissed him before getting into the Uber.”

“Jaden!!”

Rob’s exclamation got the attention of their teammates, who all looked over at the two Omegas, Perron already heading over before he could be waved off.

“Sorry.” Rob winced, but stood up to leave Jaden to Pear’s mercy.

“Chicken!” Jaden yelled after him as he made his way over to O’Ry to convince him to buy him a drink.

“Have fun tonight?” Perron asked, settling himself into the spot Rob abandoned.

“It was okay.” Jaden looked away.

“Uh-huh...just okay?”

“Whatever you think happened, didn’t.” Jaden rolled his eyes.

“And the hoodie?”

“It was between this or a Blackhawks hoodie, so…”

“You’re allowed to admit that you like him a little bit.”

“He’s grown on me...like mold.”

Perron laughed at that and stood up, “Come on, let me buy you a drink, First Star.”

“I think I’m good.” Jaden waved him off.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Jaden nodded, “But I’ll come over in a minute.”

Pear gave him a doubtful look, but stood up and left him. Jaden waited until Perron was back with the team before he stood up and walked to the ledge, leaning against it and tucking his nose into the hood and inhaled.

He pulled his phone out and typed out a quick text to Jonathan before putting it away.

Jonathan looked down as his phone chimed and grinned at the text waiting for him.

“I do kind of miss you.”


	3. John(ny)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan comes down for a quick visit and is faced with his biggest challenge yet: Dinner with the Tarasenkos.

Jaden was behind schedule. Between getting back from a road trip the night before, mediating an all out fight between Matty and Rob over the phone, and trying to get a promise out of Vova to behave and be nice at dinner that night, he was completely caught off guard at Jonathan walking through the door.

“You’re early!” Jaden accused, glaring at the Alpha, who just laughed in response.

“Sorry.” Jonathan shrugged, not looking sorry at all, eyes shining at the site of Jaden wearing the hoodie he had given him in Chicago.

“There’s been a change of plans.” Jaden replied, walking over to Jonathan, allowing himself to be scented and returning the gesture, ignoring the smirk on the Alpha’s face when Jonathan noticed that he was wearing the North Dakota hoodie, “Vova and Yana’s babysitter feel through, so we’re going over to theirs, even though I think that was always his plan and there was never a babysitter in the first place. If you want to shower - get the airplane smell off - and get changed, take your time. I need to do the same and get my stuff together for tonight, more proof that this was planned since Yana told me not to worry about dinner.”

“Down here?” Jonathan started down the hall to the room his was in last time.

“I was thinking you could use the spare one upstairs.” Jaden called over his shoulder as he returned to the kitchen to continue throw items into the tote bag on the counter, contemplating putting in extra sweet items to give to the kids as payback.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Jaden smiled softly at him, “I think I am. You can put your stuff in my room.”

Jonathan grinned widely at the Omega before going up the stairs.

Jaden breezed into his room and into the en suite, either not seeing or ignoring the Alpha lounging on his bed, causing Jonathan to huff out a laugh. As he waited for Jaden to shower, he took the time to really look around the room , taking in every detail of Jaden’s life he could find. His eyes caught on a photo on the nightstand, the same photo still in his own wallet, and he couldn’t stop the wide grin from spreading over his face.

“We should take a new one.” Jaden lightly suggested, like it wasn’t a big deal coming from him, as he entered the room again, towel around his waist. Looking at Jonathan critically, he raised an eyebrow, “That’s what your wearing?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Jonathan laughed.

“Nothing,” Jaden shrugged, padding over to his closet, “I just thought you wanted to make a good impression.”

“What’s wrong?” Jonathan managed to stop Jaden from tearing back across the room, “You weren’t this nervous when our families got together.”

It was true. They had overlapping games in New York (Jaden in New York, Jonathan on Long Island) and decided to invite their families to come down for their games and then spend their off-day together. Jaden had been fine. But right now, he was running around and clearly trying to distract himself from something.

“It’s just…” Jaden huffed out a breath, “I don’t see my family that much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m relieved that they like you. But this is Vova, and Yana, and their kids, and it’s very important to me that they like you. Not just because they’re Pack, but because if you win Vladi over, you’ll win the rest of the guys over. And, as much as it pains me to admit it out loud, I want them to like you.”

“I’m touched.” Jonathan laughed.

“I just...you need to change your shirt.”

“Why?”

“For one? The Blackhawks logo in the middle of it.”

Jonathan laughed and headed over to his bag, pulling out a blue button down, “Will this work?”

“Yes.” Jaden nodded, punching Jonathan’s arm when he realized that the Alpha had just been messing with him.

“You’re cute when you’re all worked up.” Jonathan laughed as Jaden flipped him off as he walked into the en suite again, laughing again when Jaden came back out having forgotten his outfit.

Jaden finally re-emerged in a dark green button up, tucked into a pair of dark wash jeans that were slightly skinnier than the other jeans he usually wore.

“Well, who are you trying to impress?” Jonathan smirked as the Omega re-emerged.

“Shut up.” Jaden looked away from the Alpha and left the room, “Let’s go.”

“Don’t I look nice?” Jonathan asked, following the Omega.

“You don’t look terrible.”

“Do you like this shirt? Kaner says it brings out my eyes.”

“I like it better than the monstrosity you were wearing before.”

“Admit it. You think I’m handsome.”

“You’re not terrible to look at.”

“I’ll take it!”

Jaden shook his head but Jonathan knew there was smile on his face. 

The couple stood in front of the house for a moment before Jonathan asked, “Aren’t you going to knock.”

“Debating turning around and leaving.”

Despite his words, Jaden reached out and opened the door, letting him and the Alpha inside. Jonathan made the “after you” gesture and Jaden rolled his eyes but headed inside.

“It’s me!” Jaden called into the house, passing the bag he was carrying to Jonathan as a blonde blur ran into the front room and jumped on him.

“What’s up, Sandr?” Jaden grinned at the child, who was now clinging to him like he might disappear, taking the tote from Jonathan as he walked into the house and toward the kitchen.

“I missed you, Uncle Jay!” the blond chirped.

“I missed you, too, Malen'kiy chelovek.” Jaden smiled, “Can you tell me something?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Was there ever a babysitter tonight?”

“Nu-uh!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Jaden laughed as Aleksandr nuzzled him as he set the four year down. He straightened up as Yana breezed into the room.

“Jaden!” she grinned, pulling him into a hug, “Vova and Mark will be up in a minute.”

“I know you said not to bring anything even though this was a last minute change that you definitely had planned, I brought the chips and dip that I had already made.”

Yana laughed again, kissing his cheek, before turning her sharp eyes on Jonathan, “And this must be Toews.”

“Yana, this is Jonathan.” Jaden introduced, “Jonathan, Yana.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Yana smiled, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Some good things, I hope.” Jonathan grinned.

“Sure.” Yana, turned around and went over to the stove.

“I’ve said some positives.” Jaden placed a hand on Jonathan arm, “But I’m also the only one who likes you a little bit.”

“You like me more than a little bit.” Jonathan smiled softly down at Jaden, “You said it yourself.”

“Moment of weakness.” Jaden tried to brush it off and turned away from Jonathan as he felt himself blushing, practically feeling the wide grin on the Alpha’s face.

“Uncle Jay,” Alexsandr ran back into the room and launched himself at Jaden, “daddy said he’ll be up in a minute. He and Mark were practicing.”

“Did you help?” Jaden’s voice was fond as he looked at the four year old in his arms.

“I almost scored!”

“You did?!”

“Yup!”

“That’s awesome! Gonna be just like your dad.”

“Who’s that?” Aleksandr seemed to notice Jonathan for the first time.

If possible, Jaden seemed to look more nervous at that question. Shaking his head, he said, “Aleksandr, this is my Alpha, Jonathan. Jonathan, this is Aleksandr.”

“Hi.” Jonathan waved at the child, who narrowed his eyes and tucked his face into Jaden’s neck, arms tightening around the Omega.

“What’s this?” Jaden pouted at the child, “You’re not shy.”

“Don’t like him.” Aleksandr mumbled, “Not good enough.”

Yana tried to hide her laughter, but failed miserably and laughed louder at the look Jaden gave her.

“Sasha,” Yana spoke through her laughter, “Go get your dad and brother.”

Jaden set Sasha back down, smiling as he ran off toward the basement. Turning to Yana, who was still laughing, he gave her look, “Traitor.”

“Sorry.” she was still laughing, “Can I get you two a drink?”

“Thank you.” Jaden nodded, going back to Jonathan’s side.

They made small talk for a couple minutes until Mark walked into the room and said, “Dad wants to talk to you, Jay.”

Jaden nodded and set his beer down, heading in the direction Mark came from.

“Jaden.” Jonathan hissed after him.

“You’ll be fine.” Jaden shot him a grin and kept going.

Jonathan sent a nervous grin toward Mark, who gave him an unimpressed look which caused Yana to start laughing again, also leaving to go upstairs as Artem woke up from his nap.

Jaden rolled his eyes as he walked downstairs, “Seriously?”

Vladimir grinned at him from where he was sitting in one of the recliners, “What?”

Jaden just huffed out a laugh and leaned against the wall, crossing his ankles and shaking his head, “You’re a terrible person.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what you did.”

“We just thought you might want to relax a little.”

“Bullshit.”

Vladi laughed in response before asking, “Rob okay?”

“He will be.” Jaden nodded, “The distance got to both of them and small things became big things.”

Vladi nodded his understanding.

“You okay?”

“I would be better if I didn’t feel like you were planning something.”

“You don’t think Sasha deserves to get to know his favorite uncle’s mate?”

“I did not say that.” Jaden rolled his eyes, “He’s already decided that he doesn’t like Jonathan.”

“I liked it better when you were still calling him Toews.”

“I liked it better when you didn’t mess with my plans.”

Vladi laughed before standing up and slinging an arm over the shorter man, leading him back up the stairs.

“So what did you tell Matt to do?”

“What makes you think I told Matt to do anything?”

“Because you would never put the blame on Rob.”

“Rob wasn’t the one who forgot about their Skype date. Matty’s gonna make up for it by doing big for Rob’s birthday.”

Vladi shook his head, both of them stopping in the doorway as they took in the scene in front of them. Yana stood, trying (and failing) to hide her smile behind her wine glass and Jonathan stood between her sons, who were both glaring daggers at him. Even Artem, who was strapped into his high chair, seemed to be glaring.

Jaden elbowed Vladimir hard as he walked past him, giving him a pointed look, and went over to Jonathan, mouthing an apology.

Jonathan figured he felt guilty about leaving him alone with two children who did not like him because Jaden let him pull him to his side and tuck his face into the Omega’s neck. Granted, Jaden only allowed it for a second, but then again the Omega did not like displays of affection - or felt that he shouldn’t like them. 

“Any more surprises?” Jaden raised an eyebrow.

“Like what?” Vova replied like it was completely out of the realm of possibility.

“I don’t know.” Jaden shrugged, “Like, maybe, Schenner or Pear walking through that door.”

“I think you’re getting paranoid in your old age.”

“Yo!” Schenn yelled as he entered the house.

“You were saying?” Jaden gave Vladi a pointed look.

“He’s early.” 

“That’s what you’re going with? You had how long to come up with an excuse?”

“He’s one of your oldest friends.”

Jaden just rolled his eyes, laughing a little as Aleksandr looked down and shook his head as Schenner walked in.

“Who are you trying to impress?” Schenn grinned as he caught sight of Jaden.

“Shut up.” the Omega glared.

Dinner consisted of Jonathan trying his best to impress them, failing miserably with Aleksandr. He did make some headway with Yana, who was pleased to see the way he reacted to everything Jaden did. Jaden had always held a tight grip on his emotions, not liking to show them freely. But Jonathan...he seemed to get the meaning behind every word and action, every sarcastic response, every brush off of a compliment, every hidden smile. He seemed to live for those moments

Jaden would steer the conversation away from shoptalk whenever possible, their teams being in very different positions in the League. He seemed to be on his guard the whole time, ready to deflect anything he needed to. He and Vladi shared many a silent argument during the meal, with Jaden winning because he was the most stubborn person Yana knew. She was pleasantly surprised that Brayden seemed to be trying to like Toews. 

Her sons and husband were a different story entirely. Vladi has been firing pointed questions and barbed remarks left and right, while her oldest sons glared or didn’t look at him at all. Sasha didn’t surprise her at all. He was quite possessive of Jaden, barely tolerated sharing him with his brothers. But Mark did surprise her. She figured Valdi had something to do with it.

When dinner was done, Jaden insisted on helping her clear the table while sending Brayden a desperate look.

“C’mon, Toews, you can sit by me until Jaden gets back.” Brayden clapped Jonathan on the shoulder, leading him into the family room.

“He’s okay.” Yana whispered to Jaden with a smile, “Good fit for you.”

“You think?” Jaden looked over at her, genuine worry on his face.

“Yes. He knows how to handle your unique brand of difficult.”

Jaden laughed, looking down to hide the wide grin that that thought produced and Yana couldn’t hide her smile at that reaction. Jonathan apparently was making Jaden happy and that was all she needed to know.

Shortly after, Jaden padded into the family room, sidetracked from heading to Jonathan’s side by Aleksandr wanting him to help him build a LEGO town because Schenner wasn’t as good at LEGOs as he should be. Jaden laughed, more at the offense Brayden took to Aleksandr’s comments than the comments themselves, and situated himself on the floor. He looked up briefly, smile in place, and was surprised to see Jonathan looking at him with an almost unreadable expression. Almost unreadable because the fondness was the majority of the emotion, but there was something else under it and Jaden had to look away before he thought too much about it. 

Jonathan thought he would get Jaden back when it was announced that it was Aleksandr’s bed time, but he was wrong. As he watched Alexsandr drag Jaden up the stairs with him and Yana following, putting Artem to bed as well, he realized he was left alone with Tarasenko. He didn’t picture it going a whole lot better than the last time they were left alone together. 

“So,” Schenn spoke up when no one said anything for a minute, “when are you heading back?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.” Jonathan replied, “Just a quick trip.”

“Just for this dinner?”

“Yeah,” Jonathan shrugged, “it was important to Jaden. He’s coming up in a couple of weeks for dinner with Kaner, so it was only fair”

“Did you get a ‘be nice’ lecture like Vova over there got?”

“I did.”

“How did you know about that?” the Russian grumbled, throwing a glare at his teammate.

“Because you’ve gotten it several times, including on the plane last night.” Schenn grinned, “And since I was sitting behind you guys, I heard it, too.”

The three fell into silence until Jaden jogged back down the stairs and immediately went to Jonathan’s side, curling up on the open seat next to him and leaning against the Alpha, who couldn’t stop the grin at the mindless action.

“Sorry,” Jaden whispered, looking up at him, face completely open and honest and neither of them noticed Schenn snap a picture.

“It’s okay.” Jonathan replied, bumping his nose lightly against Jaden’s forehead, “He adores you.”

“Don’t really know why.” Jaden replied.

“Because you’re pack.” Vladimir responded, “You’re pack and this family will always want what’s best for you. But, mostly, we want you to be happy.”

“And if Jonathan makes me happy?”

“Then we will get used to it eventually.” Vladimir sent the Omega a small smile, “It may take time and Sasha may never come around, but we will make effort.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“And he has won Yana over.”

“And you?”

“Tentatively.”

Jaden laughed, wide smile spreading as he tucked his face into Jonathan’s neck.

“High praise.” Schenn laughed.

“You should get him home.” Vladimir stated as Jaden’s eyes slipped shut.

“I’m good.” Jaden insisted, sitting up and shaking his head, blinking rapidly.

“Are you sure you’re good to drive?” Jonathan asked, gaze focused on the Omega.

“Yeah,” Jaden nodded, “I’m good.”

“Schwartzy doesn’t even like Rob to drive his car.” Vladimir filled him in, “And Rob is his favorite.”

“Not his favorite,” Schenn grinned, “his pup!”

“I hate both of you.” Jaden glared, standing up and stretching, hiding his smirk in his arm as he felt Jonathan’s eyes on him.

Yana breezed downstairs in time to say goodbye, hugging Jaden before releasing him so he could say goodbye to Mark, promising to come to the soonest game or practice he could, which earned him the boy’s first smile since he noticed Jonathan.

“Take of him.” Vladimir muttered to Jonathan, “He won’t admit that he needs it, but he does.”

Then, like nothing had happened, he walked over to Jaden, whispered something to him that got him a huff of laughter and an eye roll.

As they were driving down the street, Jonathan’s phone pinged. Pulling it out, he saw a text from a number he didn’t know. Opening it he found the photos Schenn had taken and the message “I’m in your corner. Don’t tell Vladi.”

Jonathan tapped the first picture to make it bigger. It was taken while Jaden was helping Aleksandr with his LEGOs. Jonathan had been watching him, all of his affection for the Omega clear on his face. Jaden was stubborn, liked to hide how he was feeling. Jonathan loved when he let the truth show even a little bit. He loved that Jaden made him work for it, he loved chasing those smiles. He loved that when they were together, just the two of them, Jaden had become more open. He had begun initiating contact. When they spent the day with their families in New York, Jaden had taken his hand as they walked through Central Park, acting for all the world like it was no big deal. Jaden had started sending him random texts during the day, rather than just check-in texts or responses from Jonathan. 

Jonathan saved the pictures to his phone, knowing that he now had a new picture to add to his wallet as well as his nightstand. His favorite of the photos. It was of him and Jaden on the loveseat, Jaden leaning against him, tucked under Jonathan’s arm, his face tucked into the Alpha’ neck. Jonathan in turn, had turned his body slightly more into Jaden’s, his own face tucked down to scent the Omega. It was such a soft moment, a moment that was over so quickly that Jonathan was surprised Schenn had been able to snap a picture.

When they got back to Jaden’s place, Jonathan asked, “Are you sure you want me to share your bed tonight? I, by the way, am not expecting anything to happen just because of the shared bed.”

Jaden turned to him, eyes shining as he said, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Jonathan grinned, following the Omega upstairs. 

They got ready for bed in relative quiet, Jaden in his en suite and Jonathan in the hall bathroom. When Jaden emerged in a pair of pajama pants and Jonathan’s hoodie, Jonathan was lounging on the bed in his own pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt.

“Thank you for tonight.” Jaden said as he climbed onto the bed.

“You’re coming up in a couple weeks to do the same thing with Kaner.” Jonathan shrugged.

“Yes, but something tells me that Kane is not as insane as Vova and that you already know how dinner is going to go.”

“Very true.” Jonathan nodded, huffing out a laugh, “You were amazing tonight. With those kids.”

“They’ll warm up to you. You probably have the best chance of winning Artem over since he’s still a baby and Mark will warm up to you after some time. Sasha? Give that a couple of years.”

“Still. I’ve never seen that side of you.”

“If you liked that, you should see me with Petro’s kids.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s three of them, just turned one in July.”

Jaden looked over at Jonathan, the smile quickly fading when he saw the look of the perfect mix of want and fond he had ever seen on the Alpha’s face, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Jaden took a moment before responding, searching Jonathan’s face for something. The Alpha figured he found it because he was pulled into a fiery kiss. Jonathan quickly got over his surprise and melted into the kiss, letting the Omega lead for the moment. They had shared plenty of kisses, but nothing like this one. This one felt different in a way Jonathan couldn’t describe.

Jaden broke the kiss when it came time for him to breathe and moved so that his was straddling Jonathan and demanded, “Kiss me again.”

Jonathan laughed but obeyed, gripping Jaden by the back of the head with one hand as he connected their lips again, grinning internally when Jaden looped his arms around his neck. The Alpha kept his one hand in Jaden’s hair and moved the other to the Omega’s hip, squeezing lightly and delighting in the squirm it produced. 

They parted again and Jonathan lightly ran his lips over Jaden’s bond gland, resulting in the younger man tilting his neck and breathing out, “Johnny”.

Jonathan’s eyes lit up as he pulled back, observing the Omega perched on his lap. His eyes closed, presenting his neck for his Alpha and breathing heavily. Every instinct yelling at him to finally claim his Omega, to make him his in every way.

“Jon,” Jaden breathed, verging on a whine, opening his eyes, “please.”

“Please what?” Jonathan asked, needing to hear the words, needing to know that Jaden meant them.

“You know what.”

“I need to hear you say it.”

“Do you love me?”

“I do. Do you love me?”

Jaden took a deep breath and looked straight into Jonathan’s eyes, “I’ve felt so alone for so long. The other Alphas I’ve been with before, they treated me like I was less than them. I didn’t realize until later, when I was looking back on it. But you? You don’t treat me like that. You look at me as if I’m the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. You treat me like I’m the perfect Omega, even though we both know that I’m far from it. And the way you’re looking at me right now... Yeah, I love you, Jon.”

Jonathan’s grin nearly split his face in half. Reaching up with one hand to gently try to sooth the tears that had gathered in Jaden’s eyes away, he asked, “Do you want me to bite you? To make the bond official?”

“More than I ever thought I would.”

Jonathan pulled Jaden down into another kiss, moaning into it as the Omega rocked down onto his lap. He broke away from the kiss and trailed butterfly kisses down Jaden’s neck until he reached the gland. Lightly brushing his lips over it, he relished in the response it got from Jaden. Smirking to himself, he lightly grazed his teeth over his, groaning as Jaden ground down in response or retaliation, Jonathan wasn’t sure. Either way, he was tempted to do it again. After all, he had figured out that a worked up Jaden was extremely attractive. It made him want the Omega almost as much as watching him interact with the kids did.

He finally bit down, groaning as Jaden bore down on him and rocked, both of them overtaken by the feeling of the bond that had been floating loosely between then finally snapping into place. Jonathan stuck his face into Jaden’t neck, panting and mouthing lightly around the fresh mark until Jaden pulled his head up and kissed him again.

This kiss was different than the others, full of every emotion running high in both of them. Jonathan gripped the backs of Jaden’s thighs and flipped them over, pressing the Omega into the mattress and lowering himself gently over him, slipping one hand under his hoodie to rest on Jaden’s torso.

“I want you.” Jaden panted as they seperated.

“If we do anything, you’re leaving this hoodie on.”

Jaden laughed, eyes shining as he looked up at his Alpha, “Got a thing for me in your clothes?”

“Definitely.”

Jaden laughed brightly, getting cut off by Jonathan capturing his lips again.

Jonathan finally allowed the hoodie to come off when Jaden complained about it being hot and sticky, the Alpha’s eyes glued to the Omega as he removed the hoodie to reveal his toned chest. Jaden stopped him as he bent down, “Too tired for a second round.”

Jonathan nodded in reply, instead wrapping his arms around his Omega, pulling him back against his chest and sticking his face into Jaden’s neck as he tangled their legs together.

“Just so you know,” Jaden’s voice was soft as he reached an arm back to run lightly through Jonathan’s hair, “I talked to my doctor. We’re going to start transitioning me onto different Suppressants, lower doses, really just birth control and making heats manageable.”

“Yeah?” Jonathan asked carefully, not wanting to get his hopes up.

“Anyway, it’s a long process and I’ll need to go off them completely for about a week to flush my current ones fully out of my system before I start the new ones.”

“Jay-”

“My Heat will hit pretty much right away since it’s been so long since I let myself have one. I was wondering….I was thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“My birthday is in late June, after when the final round of the playoffs would end on the chance that either of us are in that final round… I was thinking maybe we could do somewhere for that week?”

“Are you asking me to spend your Heat with you? I just want to make sure I’m understanding.”

“Yes,” Jaden nodded, turning his head just enough to make eye contact, “I’m asking my Alpha to spend my Heat with me.”

“Can’t wait.” Jonathan grinned, stealing a quick kiss, “Where were you thinking?”

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Jaden replied, “I was too worried about asking you.”

“I’ll plan us a nice little getaway.” Jonathan replied, “Maybe a private island.”

Jaden just rolled his eyes, trying to stifle a yawn.

“Sleep.” Jonathan smiled fondly down at him, “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“I love you, Jon.” Jaden mumbled as his eyes slipped shut.

“I love you, too, Jay,” Jonathan whispered, brushing his lips against Jaden’s temple as his own eyes slipped closed.


	4. Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blackhawks join the Blues for White Out for Mandi at Yale.

They came back from commercial and Patrick Sharp turned back to facing Jonathan saying, “Now the part you were looking forward to. Let’s talk about your Omega.”

Jonathan laughed, nodding, “Should have seen that coming.”

“Jaden Schwartz. He was the biggest name without a potential Alpha when the petition process started, a lot of big names submitted for him. He picked you. What was it about you? As someone who knows you, I struggle with it.”

A laugh escaped at the joking comment before he said, “Freedom. I promised him the most freedom out of the others. It was a long road to get us to where we are now in our relationship, and I would never want to do anything to jeopardize it.”

“It seemed to take a while, but he just recently sported the Claiming Mark.”

“I didn’t want to make the Bond official until he was ready and he didn’t want to make it official until he felt we were ready. It was an uphill battle but we got there.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that he is very stubborn.”

“That was part of it, yes.” Jonathan grinned, “His stubbornness is one of his best qualities. I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

“Because of how close to the start of season you two got paired, have you really had time to spend together?”

“Here and there.” Jonathan nodded, “I went down to St. Louis for a week before training camps started and we’ve met up for a day or so at a time throughout this season. We’re planning to make up for that over his birthday.”

“And what are your plans for that?”

“I have a trip planned. He knows we’re going somewhere and I gave him a packing list, but other than that he has no clue and it’s driving him crazy. I love it.”

“Judging by your social media posts, you seem to enjoy that aspect.”

Jonathan laughed. About half of the pictures he posted of Jaden, the Omega was glaring at the camera, an obnoxious caption accompanying them. 

“I do. I like sending him surprises when I know at least one of his teammates will be there. He gets so...not angry...but kind of frustrated..it’s hard to explain. Like, I have something delivered to his place, I get a thank you. If I have, say two giant bouquets of flowers delivered to the locker room after he scored a hatty in the first period of a game and I happened to find a florist located a couple blocks from the arena who could get the order together and delivered by the end of the game so that the flowers are waiting at his stall in the locker, I get sent a picture of him flipping off the camera from one of his teammates and another one from a different teammate of him glaring at the flowers because I definitely went overboard.”

Sharp laughed loudly at that, head thrown back, “So you like to start shit?”

“It’s just so funny.” Jonathan grinned, “I love messing with him, getting under his skin. It’s very amusing.”

“Not one for romantic gestures?”

“Small ones? Yes. Big ones? Not really. Sappy ones? Definitely not, which is why I enjoy going that route when I’m bored. I like to plan them out to sometimes, so that I have time to forget about it then I get the pleasant surprise of a phone call from him asking me not order anything be delivered while drunk because that must have been the only way I would have thought he would enjoy a singing telegram.”

“And plans for pups anytime soon?”

“No.” Jonathan shook his head, “We both want them someday, but Jaden’s not at a point where he wants to take off an entire season. There’s also the fact that we’re in two different cities and neither of us plans on leaving those cities right now. We’ll probably adopt when we get to that point, but it will be a while. Eventually, we do want biological pups, but that decision on when the time is right for that is entirely Jaden’s.”

“Alright,” Patrick smiled at him, “thank you for dropping by.”

“No problem.” Jonathan returned the grin, “Thanks for having me.”

The two men shook hands as it went to commercial.

“I hate you.” Jaden greeted as he answered the phone.

“What did I do this time?” Jonathan grinned, knowing that Jaden had watched the interview.

“Tell me where we’re going!”

“Nope! You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Does Kane know?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe I should give him a call.”

“Please don’t intimidate my best friend. He’s already slightly terrified of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you, and Tarasenko, and Schenn have no idea what you guys did.”

“We don’t. Totally innocent.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Hey, listen… I was going to ask you later but…. My team has another off day in the area so we’re going to practice at Yale and go to the women’s hockey game that night.”

“White out for Mandi.”

“Yeah. I happened to look at your schedule and noticed that you have an off day not far from New Haven…”

“You want me to come?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Jay, do. You. Want. Me. To. Come?”

“....Yes.”

“Then I will be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for this. You’re my Omega and this is so important to you and to your family.”

Jonathan heard voices on the other end before Jaden said, “I gotta go.”

“We’ll talk details later.”

“Iloveyou.”

The way he still rushed those words out when there were others around made Jonathan laugh, “I love you, too, honeybun!”

“Never call me that again.”

Jonathan’s laughter grew louder when Jaden hung up, picturing the Omega glaring at his phone. Sometimes it was the small things that amused him most.

In a surprising turn of events, when Armstrong found out Jonathan was coming to Yale, he talked to the Blackhawks GM, then the coaches talked, and before anyone knew what was happening the entire Blackhawks team was going with the Blues to Yale. Jonathan quickly called his parents and got them on a plane and a hotel room and transportation booked, Jaden’s parents happily agreeing to be their guides for the day. When his mother told him that they were going to join the Schwartz family on the rest of the Blues’ road trip, Jonathan had remarked that he knew Jaden was replacing him as their favorite. 

Chicago wouldn’t be joining the Blues in their practice, but were being permitted to watch. The main event was the women’s hockey game that night anyway. They answered questions, voicing their support for the cause, Jonathan talking about how important it was for him to be there for Jaden and his family and how touched he was that his team wanted to join. Coach explained the reasoning behind not participating in their own practice or even doing a scrimmage as there being so much bad blood between the teams, it would turn into an actual game.

Jonathan knew the minute Jaden stepped onto the ice that he was in a different mind set. He was the first one out of the locker room and started a lazy lap around the arena, taking everything in before skating over to where a couple of Mandi’s former teammates, alumni returning for this event, and her old coach were watching from the visitors’ bench. Looking across the arena, he smiled when he saw his parents walking in with Jaden’s, seeming like they were old friends.

When Jaden turned and spotted him Jonathan stood up and jogged down to the glass, smiling as Jaden beamed at him before turning his attention to Perron and Pietrangelo as they joined him on the ice.

“You have that goofy look on your face.” Patrick voiced as he joined him, “That fond look you get when you’re thinking about your terrifying Omega.”

Jonathan shook his head with a laugh, looking up immediately as Jaden’s laugh rang through the arena, his head thrown back as Bortuzzo attempted to do some kind of figure skating move. Jonathan realized what they were doing throughout the practice, each player seeming to rotate trying to keep Jaden out of his head, help keep him light and happy and not let the negative emotions get to him. And it was highly emotional for him. Jonathan could tell from the moment Jaden asked him to come.

He watched as they ran various drills, eyes focused on his Omega the entire time. He never really got the time to just watch him play. Watching him observing his teammates while they ran shootout drills, coach throwing a curveball and have the D-Corps take shots as well.

“Fire it in, Colt!” he called from where stood as Parayko took his spot.

As they watched the puck rocket into the net, Patrick whistled, looking back at a wincing Crawford, “Wouldn’t want that coming at me.”

“I think we’ve all been hit by that at least once.” Jonathan chuckled.

“How’re you doing?” Petro muttered, coming to a stop next to Jaden.

“Okay.” Jaden nodded, “It’s a little hard, but it’s okay.”

“If you need to talk later, any of us are there.”

“I know. Thank you, by the way.”

“Don’t have to thank us.”

“Still…”

“Your Alpha hasn’t taken his eyes off you.”

“I know.”

“You’re enjoying it, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little bit.”

Petro laughed as he and Jaden skated to Center Ice. He shot a quick glance back at Jonathan before taking off like a rocket and firing the puck into the net, Binner just a fraction of a second too slow to stop it.

“Atta boy, Schwartzy!” Coach called, clapping.

“Just gotta be able to do that in a game!” Jaden responded, grinning. The smile fading as he looked up at Mandi’s banner, pointing up at it before gliding over to his spot.

Jonathan watched as Perron came over, saying something to Jaden that earned him a half hearted shove and an eye roll. 

As the practice wore on, Jonathan got the distinct impression that Jaden was showing off a little, not that he would ever admit to it, which amused him even more.

Practice ended and the teams met on the football field. It was agreed that while doing a scrimmage on the ice was a bad idea, that they would be able to behave themselves in a soccer match where no one was keeping track of the score.

Well, they were all mentally keeping track of the score, but there was not an official score-keeper. The coaches stood on the sidelines, watching and chatting. Well, Otter was on the sidelines unabashedly cheering on his boys.

“You’re down by one, baby!” Jonathan mocked, running past Jaden.

“Don’t call me that!” the Omega yelled after him, glaring at the Alpha.

Jonathan instantly regretted his taunting as Jaden stole the ball from him and took with it toward the goal, passing it deftly to Schenn who passed it back, the ball sailing into the net.

“All tied up!” Jaden shouted as he ran past Jonathan, “Going down, Toews!”

“It’s ‘Toews’ now?” Jonathan smirked, “Just like night I had you whimpering ‘Johnny’ into the phone.”

Jaden’s eyes narrowed, “We score next goal, I’m on top.”

“Don’t see how that’s a punishment for me,” Jonathan laughed, “I love when you ride me. Most beautiful sight in the world.”

“You won’t be allowed to touch.” Jaden smirked as Jonathan’s jaw went slack. Heading back to his teammates, he challenged, “You in?”

“Oh, you bet I am.” Jonathan eyes dark as he watched Jaden jog away.

“What are you thinking about?” Patrick snorted at the still slightly dazed look on Jonathan’s face.

“Trying to figure out when I’m seeing Jaden next..” Jonathan grinned, cursing in his head that his team was rolling back out right after the game and he wouldn’t get to follow through on the wager that night.

“I don’t want to know.” Patrick shook his head.

“What did you do?!” Perron laughed as Jaden joined them, “Toews looks like his brain short-circuited.”

“I think it did.” Jaden smirked, “We gotta score this next one. I got a lot riding on it.”

Schenn made the connection first and started cracking up, clapping him on the shoulder.

“He should be distracted enough now.” Jaden smirked, sending another look over his shoulder at Jonathan.

Jaden watched in horror as Jonathan netted the next goal.

Smirking Jonathan sauntered over, placing his hands on Jaden’s waist and pulling him close, “Oh, baby, be prepared for payback. And I’ll have a month or so to come up with what your punishment for being a tease will be.”

“Bring it, big guy.” Jaden smirked, tearing himself out of Jonathan grip and taking off down the field, where the ball was already in play again.

Jonathan smirked after him before following his lead.

The game didn’t continue long past that, the Blues coming out on top. Jaden sent Jonathan a smirk over his shoulder as he left the field with his teammates to get ready for the game that night.

Jaden walked into the rink, a Yale beanie and Mandi’s jersey on. Brayden clapped him on the shoulder, the only one of his teammates who actually knew Mandi. It did sometimes pay to have someone you grew up with playing for your team, even if he knew way too much about you and would occasionally mention events in front of the team that you would rather forget.

“I’m right here.” Brayden clapped him on the shoulder, “So is Vova, and our team, and that Alpha of yours.”

“I know.” Jaden smiled over at him, “Thank you.”

His expression softened just slightly as Jonathan entered and headed directly over to him. The Alpha gently took his hand, lacing their fingers together as they headed up to their seats.

“Thank you again for coming.” Jaden whispered, leaning into Jonathan.

“Don’t thank me for this.” Jonathan rolled his eyes, “Your team won’t let you thank them, I’m definitely not going to let you thank me. You’re mine.”

Jonathan lightly ran his fingers over Jaden’s claiming mark, which he had started to show off more and more.

“I’m your mate,” Jaden replied, “that doesn’t make me yours.”

“Mmm,” Jonathan hummed, “so eager to argue that point now, but so quick to concede to it in bed.”

“Shut up.”

Jonathan tried to bite back a smile as Jaden moved so he was tucked closer to Jonathan’s side, face in the Alpha’s neck for a moment before their teammates started trickling in, Vladimir sitting in the open spot next to Jaden, Kane taking the spot on the other side of Jonathan, and Brayden sitting behind Jaden, smiling down at the couple.

The reporters trickled in, gathering in front of the five players, who took turns answering their questions.

“Jaden, how does it feel having your Alpha here?” one of them asked.

“It feels like I’m introducing him to Mandi.” Jaden replied, “She’s very much alive in this building.”

The reporters left shortly after and the game started.

Jonathan didn’t let go of Jaden’s hand until they reached the ‘Hawks’ bus, the Alpha preventing Jaden from thanking him again by taking the Omega’s face in his hands and kissing him.

“What was that for?” Jaden blushed darkly.

“I love you.” Jonathan grinned down at him.

Jaden bit his lip before grabbing Jonathan and kissing him again.

“I’ll miss you, I guess.” Jaden smirked as they parted, “Don’t pass this along to anyone, but good luck in your game.”

“Just this one game?” Jonathan raised a teasing eyebrow.

“Don’t want you guys to do too well.” Jaden smirked before letting Jonathan kiss him one last time before the Alpha boarded the bus.

“Come on,” Rob laughed, running up to Jaden, “you’ve seen you’re Alpha off. Now, we have to go watch Dunner try to dance.”

“Why?” Jaden’s eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Sammi challenged him to a dance-off.” Rob replied with a shrug.

“Neither of them can dance, though.”

“There was a lot of alcohol involved in the decision making. You didn’t notice but during the game, I lost count of how many beer runs they went on.”

“And nobody stopped them?”

“I think O’Ry was supposed to, but was distracted by the game. Or Pear was supposed to and just didn’t care.”

Jaden sighed but let himself be pulled away, typing out a quick text.

Jonathan pulled his phone out, smiling down at the simple, “I love you” text waiting for him.

“You are so gone for him.” Kanner laughed, flopping down in the seat next to him.

“Yup.” Jonathan smiled over at him.

The season was over and Jaden was stressing about what to pack for this trip. Sure, Jonathan had given him a packing list, but it bothered him that he had not been able to get it out of his Alpha. They would be meeting at the gate at LAX, easier than trying to get layovers to line up. 

Jaden did ones more look over, making sure that everything he needed was packed, when his eyes caught on his Suppressant bottle, only two pills left. After some debating, both internal and over the phone with Vova, he threw the bottle in his carry on bag. After all, without knowing where they were going, he didn’t know if he would need to take them to hold off his heat just a little bit longer. The heat that was already burning under his skin.

Bora Bora. That was the secret Jonathan had been keeping. And as soon as the boat left after dropping them and their things off at their cabana on the ocean for a week, Jonathan was on him, kissing him deeply and sliding his hands into Jaden’s back pockets and squeezing.

“Mine.” Jonathan breathed out, breaking the kiss and scraping his teeth against the dark mark on Jaden’s neck.

“Yours.” Jaden agreed breathily, feeling his heat flare up. 

“Got you something.” Jonathan pulled back, walking over to his suitcase and opening the outer pocket.

“This better be important.” Jaden grumbled, refusing to admit that he was pouting at having his Alpha that far away from him.

“I think it is.” Jonathan held the box out to him.

“Is this-?”

“Open it.”

Jaden ignored Jonathan’s laughing in favor of opening the velvet box, eyes widening at the ring. It was a gold band with sapphires and rubies alternating in an infinity symbol. He looked up at Jonathan, his eyes wide, before launching at the Alpha, at his Alpha, dragging him into a fiery kiss.

“I’m crazy about you, Jay.” Jonathan whispered as they parted, resting his forehead on Jaden’s.

“I’m pretty crazy about you, too, Alpha.” Jaden breathed out, looking up at Jonathan through his eyelashes and presenting his neck.

Jonathan felt the possessive growl rumble through him as he inhaled deeply, the scent of Jaden’s heat fully hitting him.

“Bed. Now.” Jonathan’s eyes flashed, pride filling him as Jaden obeyed instantly, but not without the eye roll that always occurred when the Alpha got demand-y.

As Jonathan watched his Omega for a minute, he couldn’t help reflecting on just how lucky he was to have this incredibly difficult and stubborn Omega and how thankful he was that Jaden was all his.

“Alpha,” Jaden whined, though he would refuse to admit that he did any such thing when he was back in his normal state of mind, “please.”

And, really, who was Jonathan to deny him anything?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may make a couple of one-shots based off this because I didn't realize how much I loved writing them until I started this and Life Unexpected.

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to update frequently (I have each chapter planned out) but it took me a while to get this one to where I liked it.


End file.
